Chapter 2
A bleary-eyed Danielle rubbed the back of her neck. “Do you see them?”
“Not yet. Last night was a rough one.” Millie bounced on the tips of her toes, struggling to see over the sea of boarding priority passengers, eagerly searching for familiar faces: her cousins, Gloria Kennedy and Liz Rasmussen along with their tight-knit group of friends Dot, Lucy, Margaret and Ruth—aka The Garden Girls.
“Gloria texted me this morning to let me know they were waiting for the shuttle from the hotel. It’s been so long since their last cruise. ”
“When a group of Russians tried hijacking our ship,” Danielle said. “Hopefully, we won’t have as exciting, or should I say terrifying, of a voyage this time around.”
“The past twelve hours were enough to last me for a very long time.” Millie crossed her fingers. “Although I have to admit, Gloria and the others have a knack for attracting trouble.”
“And finding a way out of it,” the assistant cruise director added. “That knack definitely runs in the family.”
Millie greeted guests on their way to the bank of elevators. The doors opened, and they crammed in until there wasn’t a single inch of space. She winced, anticipating what would happen next.
The doors started to close and then slid back open.
“Another overload.”
“Major.” Millie watched a man jab the panel of buttons. “Should I give them the bad news?”
“Let’s wait to see if they figure it out on their own.”
The door started to close and then opened again. Boisterous voices grew louder.
“I had better intervene before a brawl breaks out.” Millie pasted a smile on her face and approached the elevator filled with more passengers than she could count. “The elevator is overloaded. One or more of you will need to wait for the next one.”
A brief debate ensued. Finally, reluctantly, the couple closest to Millie exited. The doors shut, and the elevator went up.
“It will take forever to get another empty elevator,” the man grumbled grumpily.
It was true. During the minor kerfuffle another large group of passengers, lugging backpacks and dragging carry-on bags, appeared.
“I’ll try to speed things up.” As soon as the next elevator arrived, Millie hurried past the others and held the door, motioning for the couple to enter. The new arrivals followed suit, cramming inside.
As soon as the doors closed, she returned to where Danielle stood watching.
“Crisis averted.”
“At least for the moment.” Millie nudged her friend’s arm. “You’ll be leaving soon for your break. Will you miss me?”
“Like a lingering case of indigestion,” Danielle teased. “Of course I’ll miss you. Felix will do a great job filling in. Hopefully, not too great though.”
“No one can fill your shoes.” A familiar voice coming from the gangway caught Millie’s ear. “I think I hear them.”
Gloria appeared, with Liz by her side. The other Michigander friends followed close behind, all moving at a quick clip as they boarded the ship.
Gloria spotted Millie first, a bright smile lighting her face. She rushed forward, wrapping both arms around her cousin and hugging her tightly. “We made it!”
“Yes, you did.” Millie hugged Liz next, followed by the others. They all began talking at once, excitedly chattering about their flight to Florida and the previous night’s hotel stay.
Danielle lingered off to the side, not wanting to interrupt the joyful reunion.
Millie reached behind her, pulling her into the mix. “You remember my friend Danielle, who is also the assistant cruise director.”
“Danielle,” Gloria beamed. “Congratulations on your promotion to assistant cruise director.”
“Thank you. It’s been a while now but it’s also been a while since your last cruise.”
“Too long.” Gloria said. “Thanks to Liz’s generosity and the sweet suite upgrade Millie snagged for us, we’ll be spending the next seven days living the life of luxury.”
“The suites might look familiar. I was able to get you the exact same cabins you had last time.”
“Hopefully Liz doesn’t flood hers again,” Dot said.
“It wasn’t my fault. Poor Frances. We were cabinless,” Liz sighed dramatically.
“Until you packed up and moved into my cabin,” Gloria said. “Let’s not have a repeat.”
Her sister lifted her chin. “Might I remind you this cruise was a gift from Floyd and me. You could show a little more appreciation.”
“You’re right.” Gloria’s tone softened. “I’m sure we won’t have any issues. What’s the saying? Lightning never strikes the same place twice.”
“Without further ado, I’ll escort you upstairs to your home away from home. Grab your gear and follow me.” Millie led them to a quieter set of elevators opposite the gangway. She held the door, careful to stand out of the way to give them room.
Liz plodded along behind the others, dragging her designer suitcase and clutching her Hermes Birkin shoulder bag.
As soon as she crossed the threshold, Millie pressed the button for the upper deck. “What a beautiful suitcase.”
“Thanks.” Liz twirled it around. “It’s a Bric’s.”
“Your suitcase is a brick?” Dot joked.
“No. The brand…Bric’s.” Liz ran her hand over the handle. “Top of the line Italian luxury, made to last.”
“Only Liz needs designer luggage,” Gloria grinned.
“I think it’s nice,” Lucy said. “It looks like real leather.”
“Italian leather.” Liz went into a long spiel about the brand all the way to deck eleven.
Exiting into the lobby, Millie escorted them down the hall to the cluster of suites and began passing out keycards. “Gloria and Liz are in 11215. Dot and Ruth are in the suite across the hall, which leaves Margaret and Lucy in the third one at the end. I’m sorry to see Andrea didn’t make it.”
“She wanted to. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out,” Gloria said. “Those twins keep her and Brian on their toes.”
Millie tapped the top of her radio. “I need to run back down to the gangway. Drop your bags off, grab a bite to eat, and I’ll catch up with you at three for a tour around the ship.”
“We don’t want to take up too much of your time,” Gloria said.
“Although I’m hosting certain events, I’ve managed to rearrange my schedule and will be sneaking in a partial vacation.”
“It will be an epic week,” Ruth predicted. “I can’t wait to check out Bimini.”
“You’re in for a real treat. Bimini’s main beach is gorgeous.”
“Our plans are for nothing but smooth sailing.”
“You know it.” Ruth gave Lucy a high five. “Sun, seas, sumptuous meals with days in port to explore. What more could we ask for?”
“No flooding, no chaos, just pure R&R,” Gloria said.
“Unlike what we’ve gone through these past few hours.”
Dot sobered. “Something bad happened?”
“A crew member, who is no longer on board the ship, caused some chaos.” Millie briefly filled them in about the emptied hot tubs, stolen booze, weird announcements and, finally, the call to abandon ship.
Gloria’s eyes grew as round as saucers. “I bet the passengers freaked out.”
“Unfortunately, a number of them refused to return to their cabins and stayed on the outer decks until the ship docked this morning.”
Liz placed a light hand on Millie’s arm. “I wasn’t going to mention it, but I noticed dark circles under your eyes. I have the perfect ageless lotion to clear it up.”
“I appreciate the offer, but a good night’s rest will get rid of them. As I said, the troublemaker has been removed from the ship so I don’t anticipate any additional incidents.”
Little did Millie know that within hours, turmoil and destruction would not only arrive, but be welcomed on board.